Thursday, June 24, 2010

I used to love drawing and painting as a kid, even taking a few formal classes, but then I drifted away from it as I got busy with school and sports. During architecture school, I was exposed to drawing and watercolor classes and they renewed my childhood interest. A study abroad program in Europe my junior year had sketching and painting requirements that included group sketching. What fun!

Today I am self-employed as a structural engineer and live on Camano Island in Washington State with my husband. A friend of mine (in Portland) and I have been exchanging weekly sketches with each other since earlier this spring. It has been a great way to stay motivated and find time to draw. We encouraged each other to sign up for the Symposium.

I sketch from any source available: direct observation, imagination, photos, television, books, web sites, you name it. I sketch on whatever is at hand (sheets of loose paper, sketchbooks, scrap papers, etc) using graphite pencils, pens, watercolor pencils, and watercolors. The important thing for me is to just keep sketching.

Recently I have joined the Seattle Urban Sketchers. The group is full of talented people who are very positive and encouraging. Through this group, I have met a couple of the Symposium instructors (Frank Ching and Gabi Campanario) and I cannot recommend them enough.

I am looking forward to the Symposium in Portland and meeting other people who enjoy spending time sketching.

2 comments:

Hi Lori. We're practically neighbors. I'm just across the water on Whidbey. You're welcome to come sketch with our group any Wednesday afternoon. Really like you birch tree sketch. See you in Portland!

Oh my gosh, Lori! You should kayak over and come sketch with your soul mates on Whidbey Island. And, visa versa. Can't wait to meet you in Portland. Camano is so close (& yet so far away). See you soon, fellow Island Countyer.

about the symposium

In late July of 2010, the city of Portland, Oregon (USA), became a canvas for drawing enthusiasts from around the world as Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) and Urban Sketchers (USK) hosted the 1st International Urban Sketching Symposium. The three-day event attracted participants and presenters from diverse corners of the world. In addition to the U.S., other countries represented were Australia, Belgium, Canada, Mauritania, Italy, Japan, Singapore, the Dominican Republic and Spain. The program consisted of lectures, panels, exhibits and field sketching sessions led by a diverse team of international presenters with backgrounds in art education, architecture, illustration and journalism. This blog documents the experience since the Symposium was announced in March. A selection of photographs from the event can be found in this flickr collection. Sketches produced by participants during the event can also be seeing on the Symposium flickr group.

Other Portland resources

World Wide SketchCrawl Day

We'll be observing the 28th World Wide SketchCrawl on July 31st, the third day of the Symposium, in addition to the scheduled program. The global sketching marathons were started by San Francisco artist Enrico Casarosa in 2004. It's a day when people across the world get out to draw wherever they are. Visit the SketchCrawl Forum to arrange sketching meetups in Portland and elsewhere.